SMB confident, seeks clincher vs ROS

Game today (Smart Araneta Coliseum)

7 p.m. – San Miguel vs Rain or Shine

MANILA, Philippines – The less from the big man, the better for the Beermen.

San Miguel Beer goes for the second finals berth against an embattled Rain or Shine in Game Six of the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals tonight, finding its old confidence and rhythm by easing the load from 6-11 Junmar Fajardo.

The two-time MVP, who was mainly responsible for the Beermen’s past victories with his big numbers, ironically hastened SMB’s return to its deadly form by doing less this time and sharing the offensive chore with the rest of the team.

San Miguel Beer, with its other mainstays given the chance to shine, is fancied to end Rain or Shine’s bid and move into a highly anticipated rematch with the equally explosive Alaska.

Game time is at 7 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Aces clinched the first berth in the best-of-seven championship with a dominant four-games-to-one win over the Globalport Batang Pier in their own Final Four face-off.

But the E-Painters are far from giving up, vowing to strike back and force a deciding Game Seven.

“Game Six is more of a mental game. We must keep in mind that we have achieved nothing yet. We must still come out with a sense of urgency,” said SMB coach Leo Austria.

“The most important is our approach. We have to play deliberate and methodical to exploit our advantage,” Austria also said.

The Beermen have rediscovered the form that gave them an outright semis passage, stringing a pair of emphatic triumphs to move up, 3-2.

Fajardo sharing the load with the other San Miguel starters has made the Beermen more potent and more difficult to handle for the E-Painters.

“I constantly remind Junmar there are times that it’s better not to force things out. We should trust one another and work together to make things easier,” said SMB forward Arwind Santos. “He’s our MVP. He’s the league MVP. We’re here to back him up. But again, don’t force things too much. We need him strong and healthy at crunch time.”

ROS coach Yeng Guiao noted Fajardo making less has made the Beermen tougher to beat.

“When Fajardo was making his 38, 40 points, we were winning. But now he’s making less, it’s more difficult for us to win the game. That means they’re spreading it out,” said Guiao.

“Maybe we can sacrifice Fajardo scoring a bit more, but we can’t sacrifice two or three other guys getting involved on offense,” Guiao also said.

Though playing with hardly a rest from the quarterfinals, Guiao believes they still have a lot more to give, and all they have to do is to force a rubber match.

“As I’ve always believed, the longer this series goes the better chance for us to win it,” said Guiao.

“We’re still very positive. We still feel that we can take the series, not just the next game. All we need is gain momentum,” Guiao added. “Because if we’re able to gain momentum and once we’re able to keep the game close and play some defense, we’ll have a chance to win Friday’s game. Then the next game is a toss of a coin.”

Technically, Guiao said they have to play defense and push the ball and keep it moving on the offensive end.

“They beat us in our own game (in Game Five). We have to recover our running game as we don’t have a chance beating them in a half-court deliberate game,” said Guiao.

“Raymond Almazan is out. Our three remaining bigs (Beau Belga, JR Quiñahan and Jewel Ponferada) are not playing bad. It’s just that we don’t have a physical matchup for Junmar,” said Guiao as for defense.

“We have to double-team Junmar, and that’s our problem. If we double-team, there’s another guy that gets open. And if that guy makes the three-point shot, we have a problem. We can’t leave Junmar one-on-one with our bigs also. So it’s like choosing your poison, and we have to address that. Defense is a problem for us,” Guiao added.